"Wikipedia" encoded in Code 128

"Wikipedia" encoded in Code 93

"Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" encoded in the DataMatrix 2D barcode

A barcode (also bar code) is a machine-readable representation of information (usually dark ink on a light background to create high and low reflectance which is converted to 1s and 0s). Code 93 is a Barcode symbology designed in 1982 by Intermec to provide a higher density and data security enhancement to Code 39. A Data Matrix code is a two-dimensional matrix Barcode consisting of black and white square modules arranged in either a square or rectangular The term machine-readable (or computer-readable) refers to information Encoded in a form which can be read (i Originally, barcodes stored data in the widths and spacings of printed parallel lines, but today they also come in patterns of dots, concentric circles, and text codes hidden within images. Barcodes can be read by optical scanners called barcode readers or scanned from an image by special software. Historical precedent Scanners can be considered the successors of early telephotography input devices consisting of a rotating drum with a single Photodetector at A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed Barcodes Like a Flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source a lens Barcodes are widely used to implement Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC) systems that improve the speed and accuracy of computer data entry. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. An advantage over other methods of AIDC is that it is less expensive to implement. It will cost about US$0. 005 to implement a barcode compared to passive RFID which still costs about US$0. Radio-frequency identification ( RFID) is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or 07 to US$0. 30 per tag. ^[1]

History

The first patent for a bar code type product (US Patent #2,612,994) was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on October 7, 1952. Norman Joseph Woodland (born September 6, 1921) is best known as one of the inventors of the Barcode, for which he received US Patent 2612994 in October Its implementation was made possible through the work of Raymond Alexander and Frank Stietz, two engineers with Sylvania (who were also granted a patent), as a result of their work on a system to identify railroad cars. Sylvania Electric Products was a US manufacturer of diverse electrical equipment including at various times radio transceivers Vacuum tubes, semiconductors and mainframe It was not until 1966 that barcodes were put to commercial use and they were not commercially successful until the 1980s. [1]

While traditionally barcode encoding schemes represented only numbers, newer symbologies add new characters such as uppercase letters, or even the complete ASCII character set. American Standard Code for Information Interchange ( ASCII) The drive to encode more information in combination with the space requirements of simple barcodes led to the development of matrix codes (a type of 2D barcode), which do not consist of bars but rather a grid of square cells. Stacked barcodes are a compromise between true 2D barcodes and linear codes (also known as 1D barcodes), and are formed by taking a traditional linear symbology and placing it in an envelope that allows multiple rows.

Use

Since their invention in the 20th century, barcodes — especially the UPC — have slowly become an essential part of modern civilization. The Universal Product Code ( UPC) is a barcode symbology (ie a specific type of Barcode) that is widely used in the United States and Their use is widespread, and the technology behind barcodes is constantly improving. Some modern applications of barcodes include:

• Practically every item purchased from a grocery store, department store, and mass merchandiser has a barcode on it. A grocery store is a store established primarily for the Retailing of Food. A department store is a Retail establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single predominant merchandise line. This greatly helps in keeping track of the large number of items in a store and also reduces instances of shoplifting (since shoplifters could no longer easily switch price tags from a lower-cost item to a higher-priced one). Shoplifting (also known as retail theft, or shrinkage within the retail industry is Theft of goods from a Retail establishment by an ostensible Since the adoption of barcodes, both consumers and retailers have benefited from the savings generated.
• Document Management tools often allow for barcoded sheets to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications. A document management system (DMS is a Computer system (or set of computer programs used to track and store Electronic documents and/or images of paper
• The tracking of item movement, including rental cars, airline luggage, nuclear waste, mail and parcels.
• Recently, researchers have placed tiny barcodes on individual bees to track the insects' mating habits. Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea
• Many tickets now have barcodes that need to be validated before allowing the holder to enter sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, fairgrounds, transportation etc.
• Used on automobiles, can be located on front or back.

Universal Product Code (UPC)

Main article: Universal Product Code

The best-known and most widespread use of barcodes has been on consumer products. The Universal Product Code ( UPC) is a barcode symbology (ie a specific type of Barcode) that is widely used in the United States and The UPC symbol is a response to a business need first identified by the US grocery industry in the early 1970s.

Believing that automating the grocery checkout process could reduce labor costs, improve inventory control, speed up the process, and improve customer service, six industry associations, representing both product manufacturers and supermarkets, created an industry wide committee of industry leaders. Their two-year effort resulted in the announcement of the Universal Product Code and the U. P. C. barcode symbol on April 1, 1973. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The UPC Symbol that was chosen by the committee was a modified version of a symbol design that was submitted by IBM. International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology IBM also designed five versions of the UPC symbology for future industry requirements — UPC A, B, C, D, and E. ^[2] The U. P. C. made its first commercial appearance at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio in June 1974. Marsh Supermarkets is a retail food chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with stores throughout Indiana and parts of Ohio ^[3]

Originally, the modern day bar code was developed to identify railroad cars. However, a toll bridge in New Jersey requested that a similar system be developed so that it could quickly scan for cars that had paid for a monthly pass. Then the U. S. Post Office requested that a similar system be developed so that it could keep track of which trucks had entered the yard and when. These applications required special retroreflective labels. Finally, KalKan dog food asked the Sylvania team to develop a simpler (and cheaper) version which they could put on cases of dog food for inventory control. This, in turn, led to the grocery industry's interest.

Economic studies conducted for the grocery industry committee projected over $40 million in savings to the industry from scanning by the mid-1970s. Those numbers were not achieved in that time frame and there were those who predicted the demise of barcode scanning. The usefulness of the barcode required the adoption of expensive scanners by a critical mass of retailers while manufacturers simultaneously adopted barcode labels. Neither wanted to move first and results weren't promising for the first couple of years, with Business Week proclaiming "The Supermarket Scanner That Failed. "^[3]

Symbologies

The mapping between messages and barcodes is called a symbology. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the single digits/characters of the message as well as the start and stop markers into bars and space, the size of the quiet zone required to be before and after the barcode as well as the computation of a checksum. A checksum is a form of Redundancy check, a simple way to protect the integrity of data by detecting errors in data that are sent through space ( Telecommunications

Linear symbologies can be classified mainly by two properties:

• Continuous vs. discrete: Characters in continuous symbologies usually abut, with one character ending with a space and the next beginning with a bar, or vice versa. Characters in discrete symbologies begin and end with bars; the intercharacter space is ignored, as long as it is not wide enough to look like the code ends.
• Two-width vs. many-width: Bars and spaces in two-width symbologies are wide or narrow; how wide a wide bar is exactly has no significance as long as the symbology requirements for wide bars are adhered to (usually two to three times more wide than a narrow bar). Bars and spaces in many-width symbologies are all multiples of a basic width called the module; most such codes use four widths of 1, 2, 3 and 4 modules.

Some symbologies use interleaving. Interleaving in Computer science is a way to arrange Data in a non- Contiguous way in order to increase performance The first character is encoded using black bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded, by varying the width of the white spaces between these bars. Thus characters are encoded in pairs over the same section of the barcode. Interleaved 2 of 5 is an example of this. Interleaved 2 of 5 is a continuous two-width Barcode symbology encoding digits It is used commercially on 135 film and on cartons of products while the

Stacked symbologies consist of a given linear symbology repeated vertically in multiple.

There is a large variety of 2-D symbologies. The most common are matrix codes, which feature square or dot-shaped modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2-D symbologies also come in a variety of other visual formats. Aside from circular patterns, there are several 2-D symbologies which employ steganography by hiding an array of different-sized or -shaped modules within a user-specified image (for example, DataGlyphs). Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one apart from the sender and intended recipient even realizes there is a hidden message

Scanner/symbology interaction

Linear symbologies are optimized to be read by a laser scanner, which sweeps a beam of light across the barcode in a straight line, reading a slice of the bar code light-dark patterns. In the 1990s development of CCD imagers to read bar codes was pioneered by Welch Allyn. Imaging does not require moving parts, like a laser scanner does. In 2007, linear imaging is surpassing laser scanning as the preferred scan engine for its performance and durability.

Stacked symbologies are also optimized for laser scanning, with the laser making multiple passes across the barcode.

2-D symbologies cannot be read by a laser as there is typically no sweep pattern that can encompass the entire symbol. They must be scanned by a camera capture device.

Scanners (barcode readers)

Main article: Barcode reader

The earliest, and still the cheapest, barcode scanners are built from a fixed light and a single photosensor that is manually "scrubbed" across the barcode. A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed Barcodes Like a Flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source a lens Photosensors or photodetectors are Sensors of Light or other Electromagnetic energy

Verifier (Pika inspection)

Barcode verifiers are primarily used by businesses that print barcodes, but any trading partner in the supply chain could test barcode quality. It is important to "grade" a barcode to ensure that any scanner in the supply chain can read the barcode. Retailers levy large fines and penalties for non-compliant barcodes.

Barcode verifiers work in a way similar to a scanner but instead of simply decoding a barcode, a verifier performs a series of eight tests. Each test is given a grade from 0. 0 to 4. 0 (F to A) and the lowest of any of the tests is the scan grade. For most applications a 2. 5 (C) grade is the minimum acceptable grade.

Barcode Verifier Standards

• The original U. S. barcode quality specification was ANSI X3. 182. UPC Codes used in the US ANSI/UCC5.
• The current international barcode quality specification is ISO/IEC 15416 (linear bar codes) and ISO/IEC 15415 (2D barcodes)
• The European Standard EN 1635 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 15416
• Barcode verifiers should comply with the ISO 15426-1 (linear barcode verifier compliance standard) or ISO 15426-2 (2d barcode verifier compliance standard)

Barcode Verifier Manufacturers (partial list)

• Code Corporation (linear and 2D)
• RJS/Printronix (linear)
• Hand Held Products (linear)
• Webscan (linear and 2D)
• Auto ID Solutions (2D)
• Stratix (linear)
• Axicon (linear)
• REA Elektronik GmbH (linear)
• Siemens (UID, Data Matrix(2D), linear)

Barcode Verifier Test Code Manufacturers ((traceable reflectance and linear measure) used to check proper function of verifiers)

• Applied Image Inc. (Rochester, NY, USA)

Benefits

In point-of-sale management, the use of barcodes can provide very detailed up-to-date information on key aspects of the business, enabling decisions to be made much more quickly and with more confidence. For example:

• Fast-selling items can be identified quickly and automatically reordered to meet consumer demand,
• Slow-selling items can be identified, preventing a build-up of unwanted stock,
• The effects of repositioning a given product within a store can be monitored, allowing fast-moving more profitable items to occupy the best space,
• Historical data can be used to predict seasonal fluctuations very accurately.
• Items may be repriced on the shelf to reflect both sale prices and price increases.

Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in shipping/receiving/tracking.

• When a manufacturer packs a box with any given item, a Unique Identifying Number (UID) can be assigned to the box.
• A relational database can be created to relate the UID to relevant information about the box; such as order number, items packed, qty packed, final destination, etc…
• The information can be transmitted through a communication system such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) so the retailer has the information about a shipment before it arrives.
• Tracking results when shipments are sent to a Distribution Center (DC) before being forwarded to the final destination.
• When the shipment gets to the final destination, the UID gets scanned, and the store knows where the order came from, what's inside the box, and how much to pay the manufacturer.

The reason bar codes are business friendly is that bar code scanners are relatively low cost and extremely accurate – only about 1/100,000 entries will be wrong.

Types of barcodes

Linear barcodes

2D barcodes

This piece of 35mm film shows two different 2D barcodes used in film: Dolby Digital (between the sprocket holes with the "Double-D" logo in the middle) and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (in the blue area to the left of the sprocket holes). The Plessey Company plc was a British -based international electronics defence and telecommunications company The Universal Product Code ( UPC) is a barcode symbology (ie a specific type of Barcode) that is widely used in the United States and GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand Codabar is a linear Barcode symbology developed in 1972 by Pitney Bowes Corp In Telecommunication, a two-out-of-five code is an m of n code that provides exactly ten possible combinations and thus is popular for representing decimal digits Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Interleaved 2 of 5 is a continuous two-width Barcode symbology encoding digits It is used commercially on 135 film and on cartons of products while the Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional __FORCETOC__ Code 39 (also known as "USS Code 39" "Code 3/9" "Code 3 of 9" "USD-3" "Alpha39" "Type 39" is a Barcode Code 93 is a Barcode symbology designed in 1982 by Intermec to provide a higher density and data security enhancement to Code 39. Code 128 is a very high-density Barcode symbology used extensively world wide in Shipping and Packaging industries Code 128 is a very high-density Barcode symbology used extensively world wide in Shipping and Packaging industries Code 128 is a very high-density Barcode symbology used extensively world wide in Shipping and Packaging industries Code 128 is a very high-density Barcode symbology used extensively world wide in Shipping and Packaging industries CPC Binary Barcode is Canada Post 's proprietary Symbology used in its automated mail sortation operations GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand An EAN-8 is a Barcode and is derived from the longer European Article Number (EAN-13 code A European Article Number ( EAN) is a barcoding standard which is a Superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC system GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand GS1-128 is an application standard of the GS1 Implementation using the Code 128 Barcode Specification. GS1-128 is an application standard of the GS1 Implementation using the Code 128 Barcode Specification. GS1-128 is an application standard of the GS1 Implementation using the Code 128 Barcode Specification. GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand GS1 DataBar Reduced Space Symbology ('''RSS''' is a family of linear components of composite symbols ( Barcode) that includes Symbols intended for retail GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand ITF-14 is the GS1 implementation of an Interleaved 2 of 5 Bar code to encode a Global Trade Item Number. GS1 is a global organization dedicated to the design and implementation of global Standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand Color print film is the most common type of Photographic film in consumer use Pharmacode, also known as Pharmaceutical Binary Code, is a Barcode standard used in the Pharmaceutical industry as a packing control system See also POSTNET Example The above-mentioned example of 55555-1237 yields Sum is 38 The check digit is therefore 2 The data encoded will OneCodeSOLUTION Barcode is a mailing Barcode used by the United States Postal Service (USPS MSI (also known as Modified Plessey) is a Barcode Symbology developed by the MSI Data Corporation based on the original Plessey symbology PostBar, also known as CPC 4-State, is the black-ink Barcode system used by Canada Post in its automated Mail sorting and delivery operations RM4SCC is the name of the Barcode symbology used by the Royal Mail for its Cleanmail service Telepen is a name of a Barcode symbology designed in 1972 in the UK to express all 128 ASCII characters without using shift characters for code switching unlike Code 128 Dolby Digital is the marketing name for a series of lossy audio compression technologies developed by Dolby SDDS stands for Sony Dynamic Digital Sound which is a cinema Sound system developed by Sony Embedded digital audio is but one use of 2D barcodes.

A matrix code, also known as a 2D barcode or simply a 2D code, is a two-dimensional way of representing information. It is similar to a linear (1-dimensional) barcode, but has more data representation capability.

See also

• Automated identification and data capture (AIDC)
• Barcode printer
• Barcode scanner
• Data Matrix
• Global Trade Item Number
• Inventory control system
• ISBN
• Physical world hyperlinks
• RFID
• Semacode
• Sms barcode
• Supply Chain Management
• Universal Product Code (UPC)

References

1. ^ Some Hot North American RFID Applications, RFID Radio
2. ^ Nelson, Benjamin (1997). A barcode printer (or bar code printer) is a computer Peripheral for printing Barcode labels or tags that can be attached to physical objects A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed Barcodes Like a Flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source a lens A Data Matrix code is a two-dimensional matrix Barcode consisting of black and white square modules arranged in either a square or rectangular Global Trade Item Number (GTIN is an identifier for Trade items developed by GS1 (comprising the former EAN International and Uniform Code Council An inventory control system is an integrated package of software and hardware used in warehouse operations and elsewhere to monitor the quantity location and status of inventory as well Object hyperlinking is a Neologism that refers to extending the Internet to objects and locations in the real world Radio-frequency identification ( RFID) is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or Semacode is a software company based in Waterloo Ontario, Canada. SMS Barcode is an integration between Barcode and mobile SMS service Supply chain management (SCM is the process of Planning, implementing and Controlling the operations of the Supply chain as efficiently as possible The Universal Product Code ( UPC) is a barcode symbology (ie a specific type of Barcode) that is widely used in the United States and "From Punched Cards To Bar Codes".  
3. ^ ^{a b} Varchaver, Nicholas (2004-05-31). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. "Scanning the Globe". Fortune. Fortune is a Global Business Magazine published by Time Inc's Fortune|Money Group  
4. ^ Chromatic Alphabet by C. C. Elian
5. ^ "Chromocode ... Multicolor / Polychromatic Barcode Symbology
6. ^ "Barcodes for TV Commercials"
7. ^ d-touch topological fiducial recognition; "d-touch markers are applied to deformable gloves"
8. ^ BarCode-1 2-Dimensional Bar Code Page

Further reading

• Automating Management Information Systems: Barcode Engineering and Implementation – Harry E. Burke, Thomson Learning, ISBN 0-442-20712-3
• Automating Management Information Systems: Principles of Barcode Applications – Harry E. Burke, Thomson Learning, ISBN 0-442-20667-4
• The Bar Code Book – Roger C. Palmer, Helmers Publishing, ISBN 0-911261-09-5, 386 pages
• The Bar Code Manual – Eugene F. Brighan, Thompson Learning, ISBN 0-03-016173-8
• Handbook of Bar Coding Systems – Harry E. Burke, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, ISBN 978-0-442-21430-2, 219 pages
• Lines of Communication – Craig K. Harmon, Helmers Publishing, ISBN 0-911261-07-9, 425 pages
• Punched Cards to Bar Codes – Benjamin Nelson, Helmers Publishing, ISBN 0-911261-12-5, 434 pages
• Revolution at the Checkout Counter: The Explosion of the Bar Code – Stephen A. Brown, Harvard Univ Press, ISBN 0-674-76720-9

External links

• Barcode at the Open Directory Project